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Grants improve trails across state

Eighteen grants to promote and maintain volunteer trail-building efforts in Colorado were awarded recently by the Colorado State Parks Non-Motorized Trails Grant Program.

The grants, worth a total of $1.4 million, are funded by GOCO, the Colorado Lottery, the Federal Highway Administration’s Recreational Trails Program (RTP) and the U.S. Interior Department’s Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).

GOCO, the single largest source of grant money, provided more than $1 million of the total awarded through its share of lottery proceeds.

Among the grants given this year is one to Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado to rebuild the trail to Hanging Lake east of Glenwood Springs.

The largest grants — $200,000 apiece — went to the city of Durango to extend the Animas River Trail and the city of Colorado Springs to connect existing trails to the Pikes Peak Greenway.

The city of Centennial received $188,350 for a regional trail link.

“Cities, counties and trails programs throughout the state benefit from these grants,” said Gary Thorson, Colorado State Parks Assistant Director for Statewide Programs. “Millions of people enjoy Colorado’s trails each year. These grants not only add to the state’s diverse trail system, but keep the existing trails in good condition, plan meaningful additions and train volunteers in the trails program.”

The 2010 grants include $1,077,263 for building or maintaining large trails, $226,582 for small trails and $113,290 for planning new trails and supporting volunteer efforts.

The nine-member State Trails Committee is appointed by the Colorado State Parks Board and includes a representative from each of the seven congressional districts, one at-large member each from the off-highway vehicle and snowmobile community and one member from the GOCO Board.